Yesterday I received an email from some random ticket retailer about upcoming U2 concerts. If you read my blog way back when (when exactly, you ask? Oh, you remember, those days when I was new to blogging and a really crappy writer. Remember? Yes, those days.), you may recall me writing a post about concerts I wanted to see sometime in my lifetime, and of course it’s obvious, SINCE I’M WRITING THIS BLOG POST, that U2 was on that very list. So I naturally was really excited to see that they were going to be performing in Chicago next year and immediately asked Rob if we should bite the monetary bullet and buy tickets.

We decided to take the plunge and spend the (lots of) money to buy some killer tickets for their concert next summer at Soldier Field. However, since we never did get around to planting that money tree in our backyard, I made Rob promise that the tickets would be our Christmas present to each other. And even though he “promised” I still have my doubts about Rob because he loves to buy gifts for people. Anyone. Hey You, want a present? Rob will buy one for you. Buying gifts is like some kind of trippy high for him, and okay, I kind of like that quality about him, like when I got home from Florida a couple of weeks ago and he had a gift waiting for me on my pillow. No matter that it was in one of those pink bags from that one lingerie store in the mall, NO MATTER, I SAID. That point is, he’s thoughtful. So I wouldn’t be surprised if, come Christmas morning, Rob has more gifts for me after we promised each other we wouldn’t do that. And then I would feel bad because I took our promise seriously and didn’t have anything to give to him Christmas morning.

Yeah, he would totally do that to me, DANG IT, HE’S TOO NICE.

It’s been quiet around the blawg lately, but that’s because in the past week our household has undergone some major transitions. And why not get back on the WordPress horse and spend my Sunday evening telling the world about them?

It started with Avalon sleeping in her crib during her nap times. She seemed to be adjusting well to being in her crib, so since she had been sleeping decently at night (in our room), I declared Friday night THE NIGHT, the first night she would sleep in her crib, upstairs, in her own room. So how did it go, right? Well, to be honest, it went okay. Just okay. Or maybe more than okay, something like Pretty Well, But Mama Was Nervous And Spent Most Of The Night Praying And Listening And Praying And Then Listening Some More. What I mean is, thank goodness for baby monitors because my ears were perked up all night long, waiting to hear any and all the squeaks and snores and screams that Avalon would make. Seriously, what did people do  before baby monitors?

Moving Avalon upstairs to her own room, then, meant putting away her Pack n’ Play from our bedroom. Suddenly I have space! So much space! And no more diapers and wipes and burp clothes all over my nightstand! I feel like I am really moving up in the world.

Speaking of moving up (that segue was awesome! And a real indicator that I NEED TO GO TO BED.), Avalon moved up a diaper size this week, AREN’T YOU LOVING THESE DETAILS I’M SHARING WITH YOU? I think she’s getting close to fitting in the cloth diapers I bought, so I’ve been doing all the pre-washing and getting ready for her to start wearing those instead of disposables.

Also major this week: weaning off of breastfeeding. For various reasons, I decided to introduce formula and have subsequently spent this weekend drying out my boobs. Along with some serious pain, I’m also experiencing a bit of a lopsidedness, seriously, I’ve got a DD and B going on right now. It’s really the weirdest look ever, and part of me wants to take a picture so that someday I can look back and laugh at what a freakshow I was, but then I realize how weird it would be to have a photo of these…things. For now I’ll just keep thinking dry thoughts and enjoy the oblique workout that is resulting from all the lopsidedness.

Bottom line, we’re already hitting milestones around here. It’s amazing to me how fast time flies and how instantly babies grow up.

And now I’m going to do us all a favor and quit typing and go to bed.

Last week, at nine weeks postpartum, I squeezed myself back into my spandex yoga pants, stuffed my sports bra with cotton breast pads, and made my way back to the gym. After over two months of absolutely zero physical activity and eating nothing but casserole after casserole, I was more than ready to get my butt kicked back into shape.

I trepidatiously started out with a kickboxing class, assuming I would keel over at least ten times in the middle of the jabs and hooks and HI-YA’s!, but to my surprise I only wanted to collapse once or twice, a fraction of what I had originally expected.

A couple days later I attempted a 45 minute spinning class, however when I looked down at my watch and saw that 43 minutes had already passed and we were still out of the saddle and climbing what I could only imagine to be a Mt. Everest-sized hill instead of cooling down, I quickly figured out that I was actually in the middle of a 60 minute class. Do you know how disappointing it is to realize that instead of only having two more minutes left to sweat, you actually have seventeen more minutes? I instantly decided I deserved an extra Kit Kat for all of my unexpected hard work.

Today I’m going to tackle a kettlebell class, and I am quite certain that I might just die. Whoever decided that throwing around heavy iron balls was a good idea must really enjoy The Torture, and probably also does things like eat live frogs for breakfast and pluck out leg hairs one by one for Friday night entertainment.

But hey, if throwing around kettlebells gets me back into my David Kahn jeans, then I’ll do what I have to do.

Goodbye forever.

Happy Halloween!

Not that I really know much, as I’ve only been a mother for two months so far, but I’ve realized that there are a handful of things that I don’t think I could live without when it comes to this whole parenting thing. Or maybe I’m exaggerating – I guess I could LIVE without them – but would I want to? No. Because this is 2009, People, and we like to take the easy way out of things!

So I’ve put together just a couple of items that have, I think, helped to make life with a newborn a little easier.

1. Breast shield. Yeah, this one is a biggie. I’ve been using a shield since the absolute first time I nursed Avalon; the nurse gave one to me because Avalon was having a hard time latching on, and I’ve been using it this whole time. I’m sure there are some purists out there who think it’s a bad idea, but the nurse said it was fine to use and it has really worked well for us. I have had no pain, no soreness, no bleeding, no grossness. I am a fan, and so is Avalon.

2. Swaddle. Again, we’ve been swaddling Avalon since Day 1. She tends to startle herself really easily, so swaddling helps keep her arms from flailing around and waking her up. I don’t typically swaddle her during the day, however, since I usually put her on her tummy to nap (IN HER CRIB! WITH LOTS OF BLANKETS AND TOYS! AND I DON’T EVER BOTHER TO CHECK ON HER, SOMETIMES I EVEN GO OUT FOR A NICE LONG DRIVE!). Anyway, I think Avalon has even gotten a little Pavlovian thing going on with the swaddle, because when I swaddle her right before her last feeding of the night she eats then falls asleep for six or so hours. I appreciate this.

Also, sidenote: I tried the Miracle Blanket, but I wouldn’t really suggest it to anyone. While it definitely kept her tightly swaddled, it was a major beeyotch to get her in and out of. And in the middle of the night I just didn’t want to deal with that and the risk of waking her too much.

3. Baby Brain App. It was really important to me in the beginning to keep track of Avalon’s eating, sleeping, and pooping schedule. Instead of writing everything down, I spent the last night in the hospital searching the iPhone App Store for something that I could use on my iPhone, thus, the Baby Brain App. It’s really user-friendly and works great for me since I have my iPhone next to me at all times anyway. So while I’m nursing I can read status updates on Facebook AND analyze all of Avalon’s poopy diapers!

4. Miracle Sounds – Maternal Whispers. The same people who make the Miracle Blanket make this CD, an entire hour-long track of nothing but white noise, specifically a heartbeat sound. I don’t use this so much anymore, but for a couple weeks I would play this CD all the time and it would calm Avalon down almost instantly. Before I got it I would shush-shush-shush so much that my lips got really chapped. So this was kind of a godsend, at least for my dry lips.

Another white noise option that also worked: running water. Thank goodness we don’t pay for city water, because for the first three weeks I ran the water all the live-long day and spent most of my days in the bathroom sitting on the floor next to the shower. New moms lead such glamorous lives.

5. KY Jelly. Yes. KY Jelly. And not for the purpose that you’re probably thinking of. I use it almost every day to put bows in Avalon’s hair! See?

I know, I’m sorry, but it’s what the nurses at the hospital told me to use. It’s the weirdest thing – you wouldn’t really think that stuff would get THAT sticky would you? AND MOVING ON…

6. Crock pot. Obviously not directly baby-related, but I’ve gotten more use out of my crock pot in the past month than I have my entire two years of being married. After the steady flow of dinner being brought over by friends and family ended I either had to start cooking dinner or Rob and I were going to eat nothing but instant oatmeal or milkshakes forever. So I pulled out one of my crock pot recipe books and went to town. What’s so great about crock potting is that I only needed to take ten minutes out of my day to chop up some vegetables and by the time evening rolled around we had a great dinner waiting for us. Plus, it made the house smell really good, which made me feel like a really good wife. Even though I barely did anything. Shhh.

So I think that’s about it. What else am I missing? What could you not live without?

I think Avalon has had her picture taken more than any other baby I know, and was most recently photographed by the talented Joanne. What amazes me most about all of these photos is that Avalon was not exactly the most cooperative baby during this photo shoot – in fact, she was so fussy and worked up that Joanne had to come back a second time to finish up. And, as luck would have it, Avalon was just as worked up and unhappy the second time around as she was the first! Yes! So basically what that means is that Joanne is not only a photographer but also a magician, able to turn an ugly situation into a beautiful snapshot. You should totally hire her.

Anyway, here are just a few of my favorites:

This morning Rob and I took Avalon to her two month well-baby appointment. Poor thing had to get her immunizations, which ended up being three shots in her thighs. Of course she freaked out and screamed, her face turning a bright shade of crimson, but she got over it pretty quickly and is currently taking an awesome nap. She now has some very bright band-aids covering her little boo-boos, but the good news is that she’s very trendy with all those god-awful florescent colors that have unfortunately come back in style.

For the record, she weighs 9 pounds 11 ounces (25th percentile) and was 22.5 inches long (75th percentile). Apparently she has defeated the odds, because Rob and I are both short and fat and she is not. Lucky girl.

Avalon, you’re already two months old today and have changed significantly in these past four weeks. Actually, this past week while we were in sunny Florida with Mamie, Aunt Courtney, and Aunt Maddie I think you grew up faster than ever! We would send Daddy pictures of you every day, and he always responded by saying how big you looked. And you do! You have fattened up and gotten yourself some chubby cheeks and thigh rolls, wahoo! You’ve also discovered how to smile and coo, which makes interacting with you so much fun. You’re definitely happiest in the morning after a good nights sleep, and by the way, you’re doing really well sleeping at night. You’ve done great ever since you were born, but now your schedule is like clockwork, you sleep for six hours, wake up to eat, then go back to bed for another 2-3 hours.

So back to the Florida trip, we had a lot of fun, didn’t we? You traveled like a pro, and didn’t cry at all on the plane. Not gonna lie, I stressed out about traveling with you for weeks, but you happily exceeded all of my expectations just like you always do. And do you know how spoiled you were on this trip? Mamie bought you all new toys, including a a play mat, which you absolutely loved. That thing provided you with hours of entertainment, so we’re going to be sure and buy you one for here at home now.

I also took you swimming for the first time! I knew you would love it because you love your baths so much. The water was really warm and you took to it like a pro, so I assume that whole experience brought back many fond memories of your nine month-long swim in my womb.

We also kept you busy with walks to the beach, shopping for Aunt Courtney’s wedding dress, visiting Aunt Lucy and cousin Jamie, and going out to dinner. Through all of it, you were such a good girl. Oh, and we can’t forget, you also took lots of great naps!

You really dig sleeping on your tummy for naps, but at night we swaddle you and put you on your back. I can tell that you’re getting much stronger, though, because just the other night when you woke up  in the middle of the night you were half way out of your swaddle! Those muscles are getting strong, baby, pretty soon you’ll be swinging a kettlebell with Daddy and me!

Love, Mama

]]> http://kaleytaylor.wordpress.com/2009/10/26/avalon-two-months/feed/ 14 Kaley IMG_3114 Screen shot 2009-10-26 at 10.48.31 AM IMG_3008 IMG_3060 IMG_3083 IMG_3039 http://kaleytaylor.wordpress.com/2009/10/26/avalon-two-months/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CheapTherapyBlog/~3/hWU1PovyRbI/ http://kaleytaylor.wordpress.com/2009/10/18/surprisingly-i-didnt-even-require-a-xanax/#comments Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:52:26 +0000 Kaley http://kaleytaylor.wordpress.com/?p=2174 ]]>

So here’s the thing: Avalon and I are in Florida! And here’s the other thing: I had a few anxiety attacks prior to make the trek down here. See, I always get a little anxious when I fly, not because of the FLYING part, but because of the security. I HATE GOING THROUGH SECURITY. Those people are so mean, and so demanding, and do I really need to practically strip down naked to assure those people I’m not hiding a bomb in my bra? So obviously my anxiety was multiplied knowing I was taking my seven week-old through security and on a plane with me. Would she scream the entire way? Would her schedule that I have worked so hard to establish get totally thrown off? How was I going to change her diaper on a plane?

Needless to say, I prayed for safe and seamless travel for the past two weeks. And as always, Jesus provided. Avalon did awesome! She slept the entire car ride to Chicago and all through the airport, security was a breeze, and we even had time to grab a bite to eat at a restaurant before boarding our plane.

Then after we boarded the plane she nursed through take-off and believe it or not, WAS AWAKE THE ENTIRE PLANE RIDE. And didn’t even cry! She just relaxed, sat back, and enjoyed the ride, just as every commercial pilot has instructed his passengers to do. There was one time when she had a bit of an explosion in her diaper, which was bound to happen…so we changed her diaper right there in our row, across the legs of my mom and sister. We instantly became one of those families.

Avalon’s had a lot of fun since we’ve been on vacation and is getting loads of attention from her Mamie and Aunt Courtney. She’s been such a good girl, and we’re going to have so much fun Girl Time with her. We’re starting by having a pillow fight in our panties tonight!

(Part 1 of my labor story here.)

Finally we were at the hospital where they quickly whisked me into triage. Ah, triage, how I despise you. You are like Labor Purgatory, a place where no woman enduring contractions wants to be for too long. It is the unknown- will I stay here and have this baby or have to go back home? –  where the only thing running through my head was, Dear God, I hope they take me to a birthing suite soon… God must have heard my desperate, silent plea because in less than 45 minutes they told me I was 3-4 cm dilated, 100% effaced, and I was in the birthing suite hooked up to an IV going about my pacing-and-rocking-and-whooo-whooo-whoooing business.

Shortly thereafter our families arrived at the hospital and came straight into my room, again looking horrified. Can I just state for the record, Mom, that seeing that alarmed look on your face and then witnessing YOU CRY WHEN YOU SAW ME, well, it didn’t exactly help my overall situation. I know you didn’t mean it, but what I took away from your reaction was THAT YOU THOUGHT I MIGHT DIE, WHICH MADE ME THINK, HMM, I MIGHT DIE!  THANKS FOR THE HEADS UP! Maybe next time when, God-willing, Baby #2 rolls around you can stroll into my room WITHOUT crying and instead prance into the room with a big smile on your face, perhaps with a little jazz hand action for some added flair, and why not even a throw a party hat on your head? It is a birthday, after all. Hell, bring me cake while you’re at it. Then if someone dares to cry or grimace or shudder in fear after looking at me I CAN DO SOMETHING WITH THAT CAKE.

So amidst this family reunion in my birthing suite, I was – oh yeah! – still in labor. At this point I found that I was getting into a constant rhythm, a pattern of rocking side to side in between contractions then when I felt another contraction coming on I would turn around, head straight for the side of the bed, bend over, and grip the shit out of that handle, all the while whooo-whooo-whoooing until it was over.

I think I went through this cycle approximately a billion or eleventy times. Meanwhile, I also started feeling some back labor which almost felt worse than the contractions themselves. Rob, still feeling helpless, attempted to make himself useful by massaging my lower back while I crouched over the bed (which didn’t help) and sometimes would put a cold washcloth on my bare neck (which also didn’t help. But thanks for the effort, honey). Oh, and I forgot to mention, the reason that my neck was bare? That was because I quickly realized how moronic I was in thinking that I needed to have my hair all beautifully blown out for labor, and shortly into the whole labor process I got to the point where if it took any longer than two seconds to pull my hair up into a pony tail I was going to threaten whoever was in closest proximity to me to pull a Britney Spears and assist me in shaving it all off. Luckily it didn’t come to that.

So there I was in the throes of labor, when my nurse, Susi (who was awesome, just for the record. Hi Susi!), suggested that I “relax” (quotation marks totally necessary) through my contractions. Do you know how impossible it is to “relax” during a contraction? It’s like asking someone to sleep through their REM cycle with their eyes open or asking Oliver to walk to the kitchen on his hind legs to fetch Mama a peanut butter milkshake, and while he’s at it to recite the Declaration of Independence in pig latin. In other words, SORT OF ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE, KIND OF. But I tried to “relax” anyway as much as I could, knowing that if I worked with my body I would progress much quicker than if I fought against it.

Seems that the ol’ “relaxing” thing helped, because when Susi checked me the next time I had already progressed to 6 cm dilated. It was at that point that she asked me if I wanted an epidural. All I remember saying was how tempting that offer sounded, to know that in only a few short minutes I could have total relief from all the pain. It didn’t take me too long to accept the offer and get that infamous needle stuck into my back. Since I knew I wanted to keep my options open to pain management, having not committed myself to a natural birth, I didn’t feel guilty to be getting the drugs. Instead I felt pretty proud of myself for making it that far, to 6 cm, and looked forward to enjoying the rest of the process instead of spending it hunched over the bed handle. The only caveat to the whole thing was that I had to endure about three contractions while actually receiving the epidural, and not being able to move or flinch or bat an eyelash when a gigantic needle is deep within one’s spine is horribly difficult and made the contractions feel even worse.

Only a couple of minutes later when the epidural took effect I was able to chill. Ahhhh. I was a new woman. What was especially awesome at that point was when Rob would stand next to my bed, look up at the computer screen and see those gigantic peaks moving across the monitor, and ask me in total disbelief, “You don’t feel those?!” And no, I didn’t. I DIDN’T! AND IT WAS SO AWESOME! I spent the next two hours just hanging out, waiting for all of my antibiotics to get into my system (I was Strep B positive) before the doctor could come in and break my water. And with all that relaxing and hanging out I progressed to 8 cm dilated.

Finally, with only an hour to go before they would break my water, Rob and I were left alone to get some rest before I started pushing and our lives instantly changed from the moment that we heard that first precious little cry. I remember saying to him how incredible it was that this was finally IT, that by the end of this we were actually going to have a baby. A little, tiny, innocent human being who we would call our daughter. Daughter. Funny, that still seems like such a foreign term to me. By that point we were both exhausted from being up all night, so Rob reclined in the chair to sleep a little and I tried to do the same, although I think I only slept for just a couple of minutes. I found it much more calming to pray; to pray for a smooth and quick delivery, and that Avalon would be a beautiful, healthy baby. It was such a strange feeling I had during that time – my heart was pounding and I felt physically anxious about what was about to happen, yet at the same time I felt a curious sense of peace in that quiet, dim hospital room. At six o’clock the doctor was coming in to break my water, so as I prayed I watched the hands of the clock slowly make their way to the six and the twelve. And right on the dot, my doctor was at my side, telling me that I was 10 cm dilated and that it was time to push.

After breaking my water my nurse gave us quick instructions on what to do: she and Rob were going to hold my legs back, and I was going to grab underneath my thighs, pull myself forward, and push like hell. Before I knew it, there I was, PUSHING LIKE HELL. Apparently my pushes were pretty good, because my doctor encouraged me and told me that she would be out in no time if I kept pushing as hard as I was. But the thing about pushing is that it is seriously, for real, the hardest workout in this entire world. Kettlebells, SUCK IT, you don’t even compare to the effort and sweat that it takes to push a baby out of a vagina. I worked so hard and pushed with everything I had that I thought my head was going to pop right off of my neck. And I’m positive that I blacked out a couple of times in the middle of a push, only to come back to life and wonder, what the heck am I doing and why are people counting and holding my legs up over my head? It was totally bizarre, man.

I think I eventually got a little tired and quit pushing so hard, because half an hour into the pushing process my doctor piped up and asked, “Do you want to use the mirror?” Did I want to use the mirror? DID I WANT TO USE THE INFAMOUS MIRROR, ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND, WHY WOULD I WANT TO SEE THAT? When I pulled myself together and calmly replied that, nah, I didn’t really think I wanted that, the doctor asked, “Are you sure? I really think it would help.” And dingdingding! Those were the key words: that it would help. And after pushing for half an hour and having my epidural turned off so that I could feel my pushing a little bit more, I was all for a little bit of help. So I obliged and the nurse wheeled over the full-length mirror, placed it right at the foot of the bed, and people, I don’t know how else to put it, but I TOTALLY USED THE MIRROR TO WATCH MY BABY COMING OUT OF MY CROTCH AND I LOVED IT. I did. I loved it. After the millisecond of wigging out over what I was seeing in the mirror’s reflection, I got over it and used that mirror to my advantage. To watch and see the progress I made with each push was incentive to keep pushing, and to push with every single ounce of effort that I had in me. As her head was making its way out, I could see that she had hair! Lots of dark brown hair! I could tell already that she was beautiful.

It was still hard, though, and a little bit discouraging when after each push I would relax and her head would sneak right back inside again. Finally, just after seven o’clock, I was in the middle of a push when I saw the scissors come out and with a little episiotomy her head was out, thank God. Beyond the blood and the snip! and the knowledge of WHAT JUST HAPPENED DOWN THERE, I didn’t care, all I cared about was that it meant she was almost here and I was just seconds away from meeting my baby. I was instructed to stop pushing right then as the nurse sucked out the gunk from Avalon’s nose and mouth, and then the doctor looked up at Rob and me and told us to reach down and pull her out ourselves. Obviously we were sort of caught off guard by his request to grab her – isn’t that what THE DOCTOR WAS THERE FOR? – but at 7:08 am we did what we were told and reached down, grabbed on to her slimy little body, and pulled her up onto my stomach. I tried to look down and catch a glance at her but had a hard time seeing what she looked like. All I knew was that she felt tiny, much smaller than I expected her to be. And then she wailed. And wailed and wailed and wailed for the entire hour of bonding time she spent lying on my bare chest. But she was beautiful; she had a gorgeous, tan complexion and lots of pretty dark hair; beautiful facial features, and the cutest button nose I had ever seen. At only six pounds, four ounces she was just a little peanut.

An hour after she was born, and after I nursed her for the first time, our families were finally able to come into the room and meet Avalon. While she was being passed around from person to person I sat there in a deep haze, feeling like I had gotten run over by a truck and punched in the face, my face swollen up like a water balloon from all of the IV fluids that were pumped into my body all night long. But the happiness and the pride I felt during those moments was something I had never experienced before.

She was my baby, our baby, and I already loved her more than I ever knew was possible.